Why are the Police sometimes referred to as "the fuzz"?

Question

I am a former Police employee, left the Force to emigrate to the States, but I never found out why people refer to coppers as the fuzz. Any sensible answers?

Answer 1

This website has a very thorough article on this exact topic: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcop.html

Answer 2

The origin of "fuzz" is uncertain. The expression arose in America in the late 1920s and early 1930s, probably in the criminal underworld. It never quite replaced cop.

Evan Morris, The Word Detective, says:

Where in the world are you hearing people refer to the police as "fuzz"? . . . I have never heard a real person use it, unless you want to count Jack Webb on the old "Dragnet." When I was growing up in the 1960s, we called police officers many things, but mostly we just called them "cops" and we never, ever, called them "the fuzz." As a matter of fact, anybody calling the cops "the fuzz" would have been instantly suspected of being a cop. It would have been a faux pas right up there with ironing your blue jeans.

There are several theories about the origin of "fuzz":

American Tramp and Underworld Slang, published in 1931, suggests that "fuzz" was derived from "fuss," meaning that the cops were "fussy" over trifles.
A mispronunciation or mishearing of the warning "Feds!" (Federal agents). This seems unlikely.
Etymologist Eric Partridge wonders if "fuzz" might have come from the beards of early police officers. This also seems improbable.
The term is not related to Fuzzy Wuzzy who wuz a bear. (You didn't ask, but the term "bear" for police refers to the Smokey the Bear hat commonly worn by state troopers.)

Evan Morris suggests the word "arose as a term of contempt for police based on the use of 'fuzz' or 'fuzzy' in other items of derogatory criminal slang of the period. To be 'fuzzy' was to be unmanly, incompetent and soft. How better to insult the police, after all, than to mock them as ineffectual?" That explanation seems as good as any, and better than most.

If you thought the term pig arose in the 1960s, you're in for a surprise. The OED cites an 1811 reference to a "pig" as a Bow Street Runner--the early police force, named after the location of their headquarters, before Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Force (see above.) Before that, the term "pig" had been used as early as the mid-1500s to refer to a person who is heartily disliked.

The usage was probably confined to the criminal classes until the 1960s, when it was taken up by protestors. False explanations for the term involve the gas masks worn by the riot police in that era, or the pigs in charge of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

While police officers usually don't mind being called "cops," they aren't usually fond of the term "pig." A policeman's lot is not an 'appy one.

By the way, the French call their police gendarmes, which came from gens d'arme (people with weaponry) which ranked just below knight in medieval armies--the English equivalent would be "esquire," perhaps. No, somehow I don't think calling the police "squires" will catch on here.

Although "the fuzz" is not a phrase encountered in common parlance, it appears to have originated in the U.S. in the 1920s. It was a pretty popular slang term among "underground types" in the '30s. As is the case with many word origin issues, there are several theories but no definitive answer for your question. Here are some of the more widespread theories on the origins of "the fuzz":
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"Fuzz" is derived from "fuss" because police officers are fussy or hard to please.

It's a reference to the beards that police officers sported at the time.

It's a slurred pronunciation of the exclamation "Feds."

It's based on the criminal slang term "fuzzy," which meant "unmanly, incompetent and soft."

It's from the Wolof word "fas" for a horse, which was applied to mounted police officers and then ultimately to all officers.
So there you have it -- the fuzzy origins of "the fuzz."

Answer 3

Huh? Are you talking about Sting, Andy Sumner, and Stewart Copeland? What did you do for them? I'm assuming this is what you mean, since you capitalized "Police" - but I never knew they were also called the Fuzz (I assume you meant to capitalize that, too).

Answer 4

That is like a really old term that was used in the 70's. Too funny.

Answer 5

We started saying that back in the 60's but I don't know where it came from for sure.

Answer 6

I just assumed it was some slang word